Man, 76, charged with stalking neighbor, 86

For more than a year, 86-year-old Ida Huhn of Lower Milford Township put up with repeated episodes of harassment from her 76-year-old neighbor, Charles Hoffman, police said.

Hoffman made rude gestures and shouted obscenities, many from the base of her driveway while sitting in his truck, police said in arrest papers. Sometimes he just stared, making her so uncomfortable she felt compelled to go inside.

After multiple warnings and citations, police arrested Hoffman, of 7994 Dietz Lane, on March 11, charging him with stalking.

In documents filed at district court in Coopersburg, police said Hoffman engaged in 30 separate incidents of harassment between December 2008 and this month and that Huhn, who has lived at her home for 63 years, told police, ''No one has ever tormented me like this.''

Huhn even had an attorney write Hoffman a letter asking him to stop harassing her. Not long after the letter was mailed, in June 2009, after she walked to a neighbor's driveway to avoid his stare, Hoffman yelled an obscenity at her, police said. Later that month, he flipped her his middle finger, according to police.

Hoffman was arraigned on stalking charges Friday and released on bail pending an April 27 preliminary hearing, with the requirement that he avoid contact with Huhn. He'll also receive a mental health evaluation.